Network security vendor Untangle has boosted its SD-WAN router offering – recently renamed Micro Edge – with web filtering capabilities.
According to Untangle’s senior VP of product and marketing, Heather Paunet, the idea is to boost Untangle’s usefulness in hybrid environments by adding safeguards against malicious websites that can harbour phishing attacks, keyloggers, spyware and the like.
“Many websites contain malicious code that can infect network devices and compromise data,” she noted in the announcement. “Micro Edge with Web Filter enabled is an efficient and effective security tool for protecting remote locations from malicious content found on websites.”
Micro Edge 4.0 with Web Filter uses Webroot Brightcloud technology, with customers enjoying risk assessments of URLs in real time, reducing the chance of users accessing dangerous websites, according to Untangle.
Untangle’s 2021 SMB IT Security Report confirmed that many respondents were operating in different locations, including branch offices, warehouses and satellite offices, with more users, devices and data at an often less well-secured network edge, the vendor pointed out.
The vendor describes Micro Edge as a lightweight network edge security device for branch connectivity. With Web Filter, Micro Edge helps administrators control access to over 80 potentially risky website categories.
Web Filter can also be used to block “distractions in the form of social media, media, and inappropriate content”, it confirmed, as well as threat prevention.
Additional updates in Micro Edge 4.0 include performance improvements, overnight automatic configuration backups, and static routing for local networks that sit behind other routers – helping admins who manage segmented networks at branch locations.
Micro Edge packages are available on all the eSeries hardware appliances offered by Untangle and can suit SMBs and MSPs in particular, the vendor said.
“Businesses continue to need more bandwidth than ever as the reliance on cloud-based apps, video conferencing, VoIP, and cloud storage increases,” it said.
